Katherine Johnson's Life And Accomplishments

“I counted everything. I counted the steps to the road, the steps to church, the number of dishes and silverware I washed… Anything that could be counted, I did.” (Katherine Johnson) Katherine Johnson was an amazing, African-American mathematician who contributed significantly to NASA and has received many awards on account of her contributions.
To begin, Katherine Johnson was born in White Sulfur Springs, West Virginia, on August 26, 1918, to Joylette and Joshua Coleman. Katherine was the youngest of four children. As a child, Katherine was determined to excel in her education. For example, in the beginning of her education, instead of being placed in kindergarten, Katherine was placed in the second grade. Katherine was ahead enough in her
Katherine received an Honorary Doctor of Science degree by Old Dominion University and Capitol College. She also received an Honorary Doctor of Law degree by Suny Farmingdale. In 1967, Johnson was rewarded with the Lunar Orbiter Spacecraft and Operations Team award for her work that supported the spacecraft that orbited and mapped the moon. Also in 1967, she was given the Apollo Group Achievement Award and one of only three hundred U.S. flags that went to the moon on Apollo 11. In November 2015, Katherine was presented with the highest award a civilian in the United States can get, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Johnson was given the award by Barack Obama himself. All in all, Katherine Johnson has received many incredible accolades during her lifetime.
Even as a ninety-eight year old woman, Katherine spends most of her time at STEM conferences and pushing young women to seek careers in math, technology, engineering, and science. In addition, a movie about Katherine Johnson, Mary Jackson, and Dorothy Vaughan’s rough path to success was released to the box office in December 2016. Therefore, even though Katherine is ninety-eight years old, she still remains active in her previous job